China Digital Times (CDT) » Peng Liyuanhttp://chinadigitaltimes.net
Covering China from CyberspaceTue, 31 Mar 2015 19:27:58 +0000en-UShourly1China Digital Timeshttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/wp-content/themes/cdt/images/feedlogo.pnghttp://chinadigitaltimes.net
Word of the Week: Dama Erahttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/11/word-week-dama-era/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/11/word-week-dama-era/#commentsWed, 26 Nov 2014 21:25:35 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=179445Word of the Week comes from the Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China’s online “resistance discourse,” used to mock and subvert the official language around censorship and political correctness.

Literally “marijuana era.” Playful contraction of “Daddy Xi and Mama Peng,” terms of endearment for President Xi Jinping and first lady Peng Liyuan.

On November 18, 2014, four men in Henan posted a music video paying homage to the marital bond between Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan. Within a week, the video had been viewed more than 20 million times. The video shows images of Xi and Peng stepping onto tarmacs and visiting foreign dignitaries, while urging listeners to learn from “Daddy Xi” and “Mama Peng.” At the New York Times, Austin Ramzy offers a translation of the lyrics.

In the song, Xi is called “Daddy Xi” (习大大 Xí Dàda), where dada is a term of endearment from Shaanxi, the province of Xi’s father’s birth. State media often refer to the president as “Daddy Xi,” lending intimacy and warmth to Xi’s image. Meanwhile, Peng Liyuan is called “Mama Peng” (彭麻麻 Péng Máma), with the playful use of 麻麻 máma instead of the standard 妈妈 māma.

Uncharmed by the music video or the familiar appellations for Xi and Peng, netizens created a clever contraction of the “glorious era” of “Daddy Xi” and “Mama Peng” in the invention of “Dama Era.” 大麻 means marijuana, lending the abbreviation a mischievous undertone. “Marijuana” is blocked from Weibo search results as of November 26, 2014.

Sample Usage:

hansontangbc: A reporter recently learned that at the upcoming National People’s Congress working conference, in order to fully express the masses’ love and admiration for Daddy Xi and Mama Peng, a resolution will be adopted to make “dama” the national flower of China. (November 25, 2014)

“Xi dada loves Peng mama, love like theirs is a fairytale. Peng mama loves Xi dada, a world with love is the most powerful,” lyrics of the internet sensation go.

Since four Henan men posted the music video online on November 18, it has received more than 20 million hits.

[…] Online comments have pointed out that these lines resemble those from the well-known song about Mao Zedong called The East is Red, with its lyrics: “The east is red, the sun is rising, China now has Mao Zedong.”

“We have thought about making a song like this for some time. So when we were making this, it reflected our true feelings,” a writer of the lyrics, Song Zhigang, told the Daily.

[…] The musicians said the number of internet hits has encouraged them to write more songs with positive energy, the newspaper reported. [Source]

And he made clear where artists stand in his China: Artists should implement “the party’s policies on the arts.” Artists should not “lose themselves in the tide of market economy nor go astray while answering the question of ‘whom to serve.”’

[…] In a country like China, even casual remarks by the top leaders have an unsurpassable authority. Mr. Xi’s enthusiasm can spark new trends in Chinese letters, his criticism can mold the entire field of literature.

Few people question whether Mr. Xi has the credentials to tell writers what to do. In the past few months, he has become the best-selling author in China, perhaps even in the world. His book “New Sayings From Zhijiang,” a collection of newspaper columns based on Communist Party dogma that he wrote in the early 2000s when he was secretary of Zhejiang Province, shot to the top of the charts after his elevation to the presidency in 2012. Two follow-up books have done even better.

[…] Censorship is the greatest obstruction to the flourishing of writing and the creative arts. Rather than engaging the Chinese people about creative expression, Mr. Xi is just laying down the law: “Your writing must be patriotic;” “you must honor our glorious cultural traditions;” literature and art must not be contaminated by “the stench of money.”

[…] In the coming years, even if Chinese writing and the arts can purge itself of the so-called stench of money, after this speech, the foul smell of Mr. Xi’s words will linger. [Source]

A collection of 79 speeches and some 45 photos of the Chinese president, the book is meant to provide readers with firsthand insight to the Chinese leadership.

[…] “The Governance of China” was first introduced at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair.

It’s since been published in ten languages, including English, French, Russian and Japanese.

Ru Jing with the UK branch of China’s Foreign Languages Press, the book’s publisher, says they’re seeing an increasing demand for book on China written in English.

“The book has attracted a lot of media attention since it was launched. On top of that, we’ve seen quite positive feedback from the market. For instance, you can find the book on almost all major amazon sites, and with decent sales figures.” [Source]

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/11/netizens-show-positive-energy-musical-homage-first-couple/feed/0Minitrue: Harmonious Horoscopes for First Couplehttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/11/minitrue-harmonious-horoscopes-first-couple/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/11/minitrue-harmonious-horoscopes-first-couple/#commentsFri, 21 Nov 2014 20:27:42 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=179324The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source.

All portals, please take note to check your horoscope channels and self-media accounts, and to rewrite or delete content about “the incompatibility of Gemini and Scorpio.” There cannot be any negative fortunes for Scorpios born on the week of November 20. (November 20, 2014)

Peng Liyuan, the wife of President Xi Jinping, was born on November 20, 1962. She is a Scorpio, while Xi’s June 15 birthday makes him a Gemini.

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/11/minitrue-harmonious-horoscopes-first-couple/feed/0Sensitive: We Are Willing to Endure Injusticehttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/09/sensitive-willing-accept-injustice/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/09/sensitive-willing-accept-injustice/#commentsTue, 23 Sep 2014 21:41:35 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=177503As of September 23, the following search terms are blocked on Weibo (not including the “search for user” function).

Yanhuang Chunqiu: The liberal magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu has been ordered to switch organizational affiliation from the Association for Yan Huang Culture of China to Chinese National Academy of Arts. The Association for Yan Huang Culture has ties to the Ministry of Culture, while the Academy of Arts is administered directly by the ministry. “If we agree to be restructured, I am afraid that our magazine’s inherent editorial independence will be ruined,” publisher Du Daozheng told the South China Morning Post.

习＋微信: Xi + WeChat–The public WeChat accounts “Study Xi Group” and “Jingjian” posted a series of articles during the president’s trip to South and Central Asia over the past few weeks, “Travel with Daddy Xi” (跟着习大大去出访). While Jingjian is associated with People’s Daily, the person or group behind the Study Xi Group is unknown. Zhigu Qushi reports [Chinese].

All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results.

CDT Chinese runs a project that crowd-sources filtered keywords on Sina Weibo search. CDT independently tests the keywords before posting them, but some searches later become accessible again. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information.

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/09/sensitive-willing-accept-injustice/feed/0Minitrue: Young Xi’s Resemblance to Korean Starhttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/07/minitrue-young-xis-resemblance-korean-star/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/07/minitrue-young-xis-resemblance-korean-star/#commentsSun, 06 Jul 2014 18:53:32 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=174780The following censorship instruction, issued to the media by government authorities, has been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source.

All websites must take care to control user commentary under the article “Peng Liyuan Says Young Xi Jinping Resembled ‘Do Min-joon.'” (July 6, 2014)

When exchanging traditional gifts with the presidential secretary, the first lady also mentioned the Korean series “My Love from the Star,” joking that she wishes her husband was the leading male character in the drama. [Source]

CDT collects directives from a variety of sources and checks them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/07/minitrue-young-xis-resemblance-korean-star/feed/0Minitrue: Peng Liyuan’s Powerhttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/05/minitruth-peng-liyuans-power/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/05/minitruth-peng-liyuans-power/#commentsFri, 30 May 2014 17:56:24 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=173437The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source.

Parallels between China’s First Lady Peng Liyuan and her U.S. counterpart, Michelle Obama, include their sharp sense of style, prominence on the global stage, and commitment to their nation’s health and education. Peng promotes rural education in China and campaigns against tuberculosis for the World Health Organization. China’s most public first lady since Madame Mao, she toured with her husband, Xi Jinping, during his first and second presidential trips abroad after he was elected in 2013, and was credited with putting a human face on the Communist regime. She is a member of the Public Diplomacy Association, an organized tasked to make China more appealing abroad. Life under the national gaze isn’t new to Peng, though. Before becoming first lady, she was a fixture on national magazine covers and television shows during her three-decade career as a folk star. [Source]

CDT collects directives from a variety of sources and checks them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.

State news agency Xinhua said on Sunday that Li was married to Cheng Hong, who is aged 56 or 57. The couple, who left on Sunday for an official tour of Africa, have one daughter and met at the elite Peking University, Xinhua said.

The move to put Cheng on public display could reflect a new effort by China to cultivate soft power and burnish its image on the international stage.

Cheng has taught in the foreign languages department of the Capital University of Economics and Business for more than 30 years, Xinhua said. She specialized in English teaching and research and was responsible for a research project on “natural literature and eco-criticism”.

The White House says politics will not be on the itinerary of Michelle Obama’s tour of China. She will give no interviews and no reporters will be traveling with her. This is a shame, especially since the First Lady’s visit comes just one week after a prominent, female rights activist, Cao Shunli, died in custody because Chinese authorities denied her lawyers’ requests to have her released on medical parole, according to rights groups. Cao had pressured Beijing to include the input of Chinese civil society in the Chinese government’s report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, but she was detained at Beijing’s international airport in September while attempting to leave for a training program in Geneva.

Contrast Michelle Obama’s avoidance of the media in China with former First Lady Hillary Clinton’s powerful speech at the 1995 UN World Conference on Women in Beijing, where she declared that “human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights.” Next year marks the twentieth anniversary of the UN Conference on Women, so Michelle Obama – travelling with her mother and two daughters – has a natural opportunity to highlight women’s rights during her trip.

In recent years, contrary to many claims made in the media, women in China have experienced a dramatic rollback of rights and gains relative to men. The gender wealth gap is widening sharply, female labor force participation in the cities is dropping, women’s property rights have been dealt a severe blow with the 2011 re-interpretation of China’s Marriage Law, and the proportion of women in the Party’s Central Committee has fallen to a dismal 4.9 percent. [Source]

Of course, sometimes that’s the nature of diplomacy, and whether we like it or not, the wives of world leaders are occasionally its accessories. But there is something uniquely demeaning in the Obama-Peng meeting, and it largely has to do with the pre-presidential lives of the two formidable women who must attend it. Michelle Obama, after all, is a Harvard-educated lawyer who served as her family’s primary breadwinner while her husband toiled in a state legislature. Peng Liyuan, one year older than Obama, is a major general in the People’s Liberation Army and a celebrity singer who was famous across China when her husband was working in backwater Communist Party outposts.

If ever there were two first ladies capable of more, it is these two. Family, career choices and circumstances mean that they’ll have to stick, instead, to the symbolic roles they have both accepted. Nonetheless, when the two first ladies pose silently for the cameras on Thursday, it might be worth asking whether it’s time to retire those roles altogether. [Source]

Yet when Michelle Obama, 50, arrives in China on Thursday to meet her 51-year-old Chinese counterpart Peng Liyuan, the two will also make a fascinating study in contrasts. If Obama’s narrative is one of resilience, Peng’s is one of restraint. While Obama’s celebrity is a time-honoured tradition, Peng’s is an uncomfortable experiment, a near-unprecedented PR move by a notoriously stern-faced regime.

Obama will arrive in Beijing with her daughters Sasha and Malia, and her mother Marian Robinson, for a week of sightseeing and speeches about people-to-people exchange. Peng will accompany her during a visit to a Beijing school, a dinner and a performance. Obama will address American and Chinese students at the prestigious Peking University and then head south for a whirlwind tour through the cities of Xi’an and Chengdu. [Source]

When Michelle Obama declined to attend a crucial “shirtsleeves” summit between her husband and the newly promoted president of China last June, it was widely seen in Beijing as a stinging political snub.

The meeting was to be an unprecedented pairing of first ladies; Xi Jinping’s wife, an elegant People’s Liberation Army singer, has enough star power inside China to match her American counterpart. When Mrs Obama cancelled, it sent a signal that Peng Liyuan was an unwanted guest.

Nearly nine months later, however, the Chinese public will this week finally get the chance to see the two women together when Mrs Obama takes her two daughters, Malia and Sasha, on a six-day half-term break to China that will be part family getaway, part international soft-power diplomacy. [Source]

wishy-washy (不伦不类): The Canadian Chinese website 3ren.ca published a reflection on Xi Jinping’s “show of closeness to the people” (亲民秀) and the difficulties he faces both domestically and abroad. “China’s diplomacy is conducted with the clarity of mud–it’s wishy-washy” (中国外交搞得一团浆糊，不伦不类), writes “sunyiwen.”

Xi+put on a show (习＋作秀)

Xi+speculate (习＋炒作)

Xi+put on an act (习＋演戏)

Xi+big move (习＋大动作)

Xi+new administration (习＋新政)

Other Xi-Related Keywords:

Xi+predecessor (习＋前任)

Xi+secretary (习＋秘书)

Xi+Zhou [Yongkang] (习＋周): Former security chief Zhou Yongkang is reportedly under investigation for corruption. See Sensitive Words posts from January 9, December 25, and October 10.

Li Dongsheng+Xi (李东生＋习): Zhou ally Li Dongsheng was fired from his post in the Ministry of Public Security on Christmas.

All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results.

CDT Chinese runs a project that crowd-sources filtered keywords on Sina Weibo search. CDT independently tests the keywords before posting them, but some searches later become accessible again. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information.

Central Propaganda Department: Do not send reporters to Xiamen to investigate the bus fire. Immediately recall anyone already sent there. Without exception, use Xinhua wire copy and the information issued by the local authoritative departments. In particular, use the authoritative conclusions of public security as the standard. Coverage should be moderate. Do not speculate on the suspect or the details of the crime. Do not embellish the tragedy of the scene. (June 8, 2013)

CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/06/ministry-of-truth-peng-liyuan-xiamen-bus-fire/feed/0Sensitive Words: Peng Liyuan’s iPhone and Morehttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/06/sensitive-words-peng-liyuans-iphone-and-more/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/06/sensitive-words-peng-liyuans-iphone-and-more/#commentsSun, 09 Jun 2013 17:57:59 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=157358“Reach victory in the People’s war against]]>As of June 9, the following search terms are blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the “search for user” function).

“Reach victory in the People’s war against Apple and Steve Jobs.”

First Lady’s iPhone: Peng Liyuan, the wife of President Xi Jinping, was spotted in Mexico last week taking a photo of Mayan ruins with her iPhone. A photo of Peng and her phone went viral on Weibo earlier this week. This March, a CCTV program criticized Apple for charging certain maintenance fees in China that it did not elsewhere. Despite a Weibo gaff that exposed pro-government forces behind the Apple-bashing, and ensuing netizen disgruntlement with CCTV, Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote a formal apology to its Chinese users and promised a change in policy.

Other: Current situation of the ideological sphere (当前意识形态领域情况): News and discussion of an internal Party document titled “Circular on the Current Situation of the Ideological Sphere” (关于当前意识形态领域情况的通报) has been heavily censored since early May. Fei Chang Dao has tracked online censorship of the document, while China Copyright and Media has gleaned information on its contents.

All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results.

CDT Chinese runs a project that crowd-sources filtered keywords on Sina Weibo search. CDT independently tests the keywords before posting them, but some searches later become accessible again. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information. To add words, check out the form at the bottom of CDT Chinese’s latest sensitive words post.

This might seem, from the U.S. perspective, pretty banal: Of course [Obama] wouldn’t want to serve as a set-piece at some humdrum summit meetings. But from the Chinese perspective, it’s an unexpected snub, an affirmation of deeply held suspicions that Washington does not respect China and, perhaps most importantly, a relatively minor but unnecessary setback to the much-needed trust-building session before it’s even begun.

The two things to understand here are that (1) Michelle Obama is a big star in China; her presence at the summit was eagerly anticipated in the Chinese media and would have been a nice win for Xi; (2) China still views itself as vulnerable and weak compared to the United States, which informs both its respect for the United States and its deep-seated insecurity about how China is viewed in Washington. Those two factors help explain why China-watchers say that the first lady’s absence could offend both Xi and the many Chinese citizens watching the summit, which is after all the exact opposite of what the White House wants to accomplish. [Source]

Look, I get that being the First Lady must be fraught with political peril at times, and that the wife/wife interaction feels just a bit retro. And I get that Michelle Obama has focused — rightfully — on being a good mother to her children. But this is one of the few moments during her husband’s term of office where what she does matters a small amount to world politics.

When was the last time Michelle Obama — or indeed any U.S. first lady — publically met and socialized with a military representative of a non-ally country? It’s a smart meeting for Mrs. Obama to skip. Peng’s no Asma al-Assad, but she’s no Carla Bruni either. [Source]

As for Ms. Peng, Americans are not likely to see much of her or her husband. The arrangements for the get-together at Sunnylands, the 200-acre estate built a half-century ago by the publishing billionaire Walter H. Annenberg, who died in 2002, are intended to provide comfortable seclusion as the two leaders discuss issues that challenge and divide them, like nuclear proliferation, cybersecurity and trade.

But in Ms. Peng’s travels elsewhere with Mr. Xi — in Russia and Africa in March, and this week in Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico — she has been anything but the traditional, retiring Chinese first lady. To find a spouse of similar prominence, China hands say, one has to reach past the Communist takeover in 1949 to Madame Chiang Kai-shek, who unsuccessfully worked alongside her husband to hold on to power and then to get it back, even addressing a joint session of Congress and three times making the cover of Time.

Peng toned down her image in the years before her husband ascended to China’s highest office. When it was clear to the political elite a few years ago that Xi was a strong contender to succeed President Hu Jintao, Peng stopped appearing on the New Year’s Gala and accepted only a few public singing engagements. She didn’t disappear from the public view entirely, however, as past Chinese first ladies have. Peng accepted offers from China’s Ministry of Health and later from the World Health Organization in Geneva to become a “goodwill ambassador,” promoting awareness of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and supporting antismoking health campaigns. She even hammed it up with Bill Gates in Beijing last year on World Anti-Tobacco Day; they both wore red T-shirts that read, “Say No to Second-Hand Smoke.”

This is the first time a Chinese president’s wife has engaged in advocacy of any sort, and she has already reshaped the role of first lady in China. She has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and Forbes’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2013. “Peng Liyuan is the first First Lady in the PRC’s history,” says Cheng Li, a senior fellow and expert on Chinese politics at the Brookings Institution. “We should not underestimate what she has already accomplished, or may be able to accomplish.” As first lady, Peng is also highly unusual in that she was known to the nation long before her husband—and is now being reintroduced. [Source]

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/06/michelle-obama-to-sit-out-california-summit/feed/2China’s First Lady Serenaded Tiananmen Troopshttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/03/chinas-first-lady-serenaded-tiananmen-troops/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/03/chinas-first-lady-serenaded-tiananmen-troops/#commentsThu, 28 Mar 2013 17:49:27 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=153684AP has confirmed the authenticity of a photo distributed online showing First Lady Peng Liyuan serenading People’s Liberation Army troops in Tiananmen Square after the crackdown on protesters in June 1989. CDT posted the photo on Tuesday. From Gillian Wong’s report:

The image of Peng in a green military uniform, her windswept hair tied back in a ponytail as she sings to helmeted and rifle-bearing troops seated in rows on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, contrasts with her appearances this week in trendy suits and coiffed hair while touring Russia and Africa with Xi, waving to her enthusiastic hosts.

“I think that we have a lot of people hoping that because Xi Jinping walks around without a tie on and his wife is a singer who travels with him on trips that maybe we’re dealing with a new kind of leader, but I think these images remind people that this is the same party,” said Kelley Currie, a China human rights expert for the pro-democracy Project 2049 Institute in Arlington, Virginia.

“It’s using some new tools and new techniques, for the same purposes: to preserve its own power.”

[…]

“The photo probably has a negative impact more so internationally than domestically,” said Joseph Cheng, a political scientist at City University of Hong Kong. He said more scrutiny of Peng is likely and such images could raise questions about Xi’s interest in reforms.

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/03/chinas-first-lady-serenaded-tiananmen-troops/feed/1Empire Illustrated: Peng Liyuan at Tiananmen, 1989http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/03/empire-illustrated-peng-liyuan-at-tiananmen-1989/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/03/empire-illustrated-peng-liyuan-at-tiananmen-1989/#commentsTue, 26 Mar 2013 20:03:52 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=153588Peng Liyuan, wife of the new Chinese president Xi Jinping, has lit up Weibo with her glamour. The censors have balked at discussions of her outfits, though their work has not done much to dampen “first lady fever.”

While it may be politically touchy to talk about Peng’s overcoat, digging into the darker corners of her past is totally off-limits. Weibo user @HKfighter posted the image below from Open Magazine [zh], a liberal Hong Kong journal, showing a young Peng entertaining the troops in Tiananmen Square in June 1989:

@HKfighter: After the Tiananmen Massacre, Peng Liyuan sang to comfort the soldiers. Open Magazine published this photo. [Then] for the 82nd anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party [in 2003], she sang the theme song for a commemorative film, declaring “fight for power, rule the country,” the heartfelt thoughts of the Party elders.

“Now is the end of our quest for a graceful first lady,” wrote the deputy editor of the Hong Kong Commercial Daily newspaper on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.

The Beijing News ran a full page of stories about Mrs Peng’s itinerary in Moscow, alongside a photograph of her arriving at a speech dressed in an elegant Chinese-style silk tunic and skirt.

“In her role as first lady on this visit abroad, Peng Liyuan is exhibiting China’s soft power,” Wang Fan, head of the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University, told the newspaper.

The footage of her in Moscow quickly caused something akin to the “Kate Middleton effect”, with copies of her coat instantly appearing on Taobao, an online shopping site, for 499 yuan (£53) – and advertised as “in the same style as the first lady’s”.

Already a celebrity in her own right as a famous singer, Peng has taken center stage as the Chinese Communist Party looks to polish its image. She could be a valuable diplomatic asset as China struggles to effectively project its soft power abroad, according to Jane Perlez and Bree Feng of The New York Times:

It could be that Ms. Peng’s star power will push the diplomats into the background. Although Mr. Xi may not like the comparison, some see her as a figure akin to Raisa Gorbachev, the wife of Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who helped humanize the Soviet leader as the Soviet Union fell apart. Mr. Xi has singled out Mr. Gorbachev as a man who let down the cause of Communism.

Others see her as roughly equivalent to Michelle Obama: modern, outgoing, intrigued by fashion. They await the moment when Ms. Peng and Mrs. Obama stand with their husbands at a state visit, either in Washington or Beijing, a lineup that is likely to happen in the next four years. The couples share some common ground. The Obamas have two daughters; Mr. Xi and Ms. Peng have one daughter, Xi Mingze, who is registered under a pseudonym as an undergraduate at Harvard.